The market continues to be busy in the lower end of the price range, and bank-owned and short sales are making up about 61% of all closed sales in Orange County. Today, there are a total of 11,577 homes for sale in Orange County. Of those, 4783 (42%) are labeled as either bank owned or short sales. …
Category Archives: Pricing
Lake Forest Market Update – November Sales Report
November 2008 sales in Lake Forest are up 233% from last year’s dismal numbers, but sale price per square foot is off by almost 26%. Prices ranged from a low of $110,000 up to $724,900. First time buyers were the driving force behind the improved sales volume, since they didn’t have to unload a previous…
Lake Forest Market Conditions
Lake Forest prices now start at $95,000 for a one-bedroom bank-owned condo. It previously sold in 2005 for $260,000 using 100% financing (probably using a “liar loan” without any income documentation!) I seriously question the wisdom of anyone paying that much for a property this size, as you could have rented it for less than…
Automated Home Values
Check your home value, or one that you are considering! Which one do you think is most accurate? Are there others worth looking at? Zillow Cyberhomes RealEstateABC Paper Economy Calculator
History of an Over-Priced Listing
Is your home priced too high for the current market? Many times, sellers insist on testing the market to make sure they are not leaving money on the table. Some times, the listing agent is selected based on recommending the highest list price. Other times, sellers simply have an inflated opinion of the value of…
Price Reductions
On the days that I’m not out showing or previewing homes, I check the MLS “Hot Sheet” list several times a day to see what just came on the market, what has recently been reduced, and what has changed status to indicate that it is under contract. I’m often amazed at the number of price…
What's Your House Worth?
Here’s a new one that I just tried out. You enter the purchase date and price, and it will calculate the current value using historic averages and the Case-Shiller studies and reports. Try it yourself! Let me know what you thought by leaving a comment here.
It's ALL about the PRICE!
Why isn’t my home selling? It’s fixed up, easy to show, listed in the MLS with photos and a virtual tour, and offers a generous commission to the buyer’s agent. It has been on the market 90 days and there are no offers! Well, I haven’t seen your house, but when all else fails, you…
Watch out for Mortgage Fraud!
With the decline in prices, and scarcity of buyers, it may be tempting for a seller to fall for this scheme, but be careful, it could be one of the mortgage fraud schemes that are going around! The basic idea is that after a property has failed to sell, a buyer comes in and offers to pay…
10 Reasons to Over Price a Home?
When sellers say that they want to list their home for substantially more than the comps support, I think a good list of reasons for buyers to overpay would help both the listing agent and the buyers. I realize that some of these are a bit of a stretch, or maybe even sarcastic, but…